Hunger Games High School: Another Year
by CelticGames4
Summary: A High School AU with the HG characters along with the OCs of myself and friends. Join the students of Panem High as they fight through the twists, turns and drama of high school. Bonnie and Posy are in love with the same guy, Prim and Rory try to maintain a relationship through the stresses of Junior year, Marvel is a senior and unsure if he can handle the pressure. R&R Please!
1. Chapter 1: Another Year

**Chapter One: Another Year**

_Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!_

Primrose Everdeen flops over in bed and groans. She _knew_ that she'd have to get up early, but her sleep schedule was messed up so bad already she wasn't asleep till late. Waking up is just as bad she told herself it would be.

Suddenly, Prim sits up straight in bed. _It's the first day of school! _

Her older sister Katniss is away at college, they moved her in the week before… Yes, it's school time again. And school means fall. Fall means nice sweatshirt and jeans weather.

Prim, who likes to dress nicely, yawns as she crawls out of bed and goes to the bathroom to wash her face. She puts on a pretty dress and a pair of flats that give her blisters on the back of her heels but are too cute to part with. For the first day of school she puts her blonde hair up in a ponytail and then gets to doing her makeup.

Prim is a junior at Panem High School and today is the first day. She grabs some breakfast and then brushes her teeth, having to run to get out the door.

Prim's father is a teacher at Panem High; he's the choral director and the director of the school's glee club. Prim joined the club towards the end of her freshman year, but plays violin in the pit more than she really sings. He had already left to go to the school, but since Prim refused to get up at 5:00 in the morning, she just decided she'd rather ride the bus.

She walks out to her bus stop in the chilly morning. A breeze felt cold against the girl's skin, but she knows it would get exponentially hotter as the day goes on. At the bus stop, she meets her best friend and boyfriend Rory Hawthorne, a fellow junior, who is wearing a jacket and T-shirt with jeans. Along with him is his younger sister Posy, who is a sophomore.

"Good morning," Prim says, smiling and giving him a peck on the lips.

"Hey," he smiles, taking her hand, "How was your morning?"

"Alright. Mom was still sleeping," Prim giggles a little bit.

"Of course."

"How about you?"

"Let's just say I could get used to mornings without Vick hogging the shower and wasting all our hot water."

Prim laughs, and Rory notices how her blue eyes light up when she does so. He loves that about her.

"Gross," Posy remarks, leaning against a lamppost. She's single and fine with the fact, though she does have a small crush on a boy she knows…

"Sorry Pos," Prim says. "How are you feeling?"

Posy yawns in response with a long blink. "Tired," she remarks.

At seeing the younger girl yawn, Prim yawns herself and then says, "Yeah, I know the feeling. I'd probably have fallen back asleep if it wasn't the first day of school."

"I did fall back asleep," Posy says, "But Rory got me up again."

"You're welcome!" he says, though she didn't thank him. "You had all your time to primp for the Irish kid."

Posy scowls embarrassedly, "Shut up, it wasn't for him! I just like to feel pretty!" Prim suddenly realizes that Posy is dressed in skinnier jeans than usual and wears a nice shirt and camisole duo, her hair pulled up in a tight ponytail with a bow tied around it.

"You look nice, Posy!" Prim says as they hear the bus coming to pick them up.

"She just hopes Kelley agrees!"

"Thanks," Posy offers a smile to Prim, sticking her tongue out at her brother as the doors open and the three get on the bus.

Posy sees her best friend Bonnie, a fellow sophomore, and plops down next to her in the seat.

Bonnie, a naturally happy girl with curly brown hair and the brightest brown eyes Posy's ever known, grins and greets her cheerily, "Good morning Posy!"

"Hey," the Hawthorne girl mumbles tiredly, putting her knees against the seat in front of her and suppressing another yawn.

"Your outfit is so cute! You should wear your hair like that more often!"

"Thanks." Posy doesn't dress nicely or put her hair up very often. She doesn't feel like herself in these clothes, but doesn't mind the compliments so she tolerates it. The bus gets moving again, on it's way to pick up other students.

"Aren't you excited, Posy!?" Bonnie asks. She's wearing a bright dress like Prim and nice sandals, continuing to smile broadly at her friend.

"Yeah, whatever. It's only our sophomore year, it's not really significant."

"Sure it is!"

Posy shrugs and tries a small smile.

Prim and Rory sit in the back with the rest of their older friends. The group is small considering the others are still waiting to be picked up, but that's fine for Prim and Rory because they get to pick which seat they want for themselves.

The stop after that picks up a beaming senior named Poppy Schward, who takes a seat closer to the back than usual, putting her backpack beside her to save the spot for her boyfriend. It also picks up a beaming senior named Crawley Archer, a drum major for the school band. He takes a seat in the very back seat, beaming and greeting his friends happily.

"Good morning!"

"Hi Crawley," Prim says, smiling. "How are you?"

"I'm excited! I can't believe it, I can't believe I'm a senior! It's insane! Time needs to stop!" Poppy laughs a little (they just had the same conversation while waiting for the bus), and nods. "I agree. Next year we'll be at college!"

"Oh God, don't go there…" Crawley sighs. He's still not sure what he wants to do.

The bus keeps driving on, stopping again soon to pick up a senior named Marvel and the two Irish boys that recently moved with their family into a house diagonal from Marvel's.

The older of the two Irish boys, Edward O'Callaghan, walks to the back and takes an empty seat for himself. He listens to the conversation more than he talks, smiling and greeting his friends with a wave. Edward's a junior now, Prim and Rory's age.

Edward's brother Kelley, a sophomore, sits on the seat beside where Bonnie and Posy sit.

"Good morning Kelley!" Bonnie says, smiling at him. Her eyes are even brighter, if possible, and though it's hard for Posy and Kelley to see, her cheeks begin to blush light pink.

"Morning Bonnie!" he says, his voice laced with an Irish accent. "Morning Posy!"

"M-Morning Kelley." Posy hates the fact that she stutters when he's around. He's just so cute, his shaggy brown hair, his bright green eyes. He wears a green T-shirt and jeans with a pair of green converse on his feet, as usual.

"You both look really nice!" he comments, smiling. Both girls smile, Bonnie giggles a bit.

"Thanks," they both say. Posy is flustered at the compliment, but Bonnie looks like her whole day has been made.

"Are you ready for school!?" he asks enthusiastically.

"No," Posy says bluntly. "I don't want to go back."

"I guess I'm ready enough," Bonnie shrugs.

"I'm excited! I can't wait to play French horn and sing and have a great year!" he says loudly, causing the surrounding people to look over.

"Only you, Kelley," Posy says, though she's smiling. Bonnie nods and says, "Only you."

But his optimism and sense of humor is one thing both girls love about him.

Marvel follows Edward to the back, and Poppy picks up her backpack for him to sit next to her.

"Hey guys," he says with a smile, as Poppy pecks him on the cheek.

"How are you this wonderful morning?" she asks as he puts an arm around her.

"A little tired, but mostly excited and shocked. It seemed like just yesterday Glimmer, Cato, Clove and I were driving to school in Gloss's truck instead of taking the bus…" Sophomore year really changed him.

"I know. Those were the good ol' days, I guess."

"Or not so good," Marvel says, a little quieter.

"But, hey, those are the days of the past now!" Crawley interjects optimistically. "We don't have to worry about them anymore, we're seniors!"

"Yeah," Poppy adds, "So smile again! This year is going to be great!"

Marvel just shrugs, eventually putting a smile back on as the bus stops to collect Tanner Tyson Cooper, a senior who has blue eyes and dark hair. He sits next to Edward and greets everyone with a smile.

"Hey guys! Excited?!"

"Yeah, yeah, blah blah, what the hell happened with you and Ben!?" Crawley asks, excited to finally hear from the source.

"Well, uh…" Tanner laughs a little, blushing and scratching the back of his neck awkwardly, "Uh, I still don't know. I kissed him and ran, and haven't seen him since."

"Good luck telling Jason that," Edward remarks, smiling a little.

Ben Hoffsteader is a senior and the school bully. He is despised by everyone except for Tanner, who somehow managed to fall in love with him. Tanner's friends, in particular Ben's cousin Skeeter and his friend Jason, thought he was crazy, but Tanner _still _stands by his belief that Ben is mean because he's vulnerable and can be changed.

Unfortunately for Tanner, not only is he Ben's biggest target, but over the summer he lost control, kissed his bully, and ran away. He's been stressing about this day ever since then.

"Don't worry, you'll be okay. Hoffsteader won't lay a finger on you in school, especially not the first day, and especially not with Hollow around."

As if they'd summoned him, Jason Hollow and his best friend Locke Gedeckt are picked up just then and sit together in a seat. "Someone call?" Jason asks, hearing his last name used in conversation.

"Ha, yeah! We were just talking about Tanner's deal with Hoffsteader," Rory says.

"Oh." Jason's expression darkens to almost pure evil. "Tell me about that, Tanner. Then I'll break every bone in his body."

"Don't hurt him!" Tanner protests, and Locke nods in stern agreement.

"Tell me!" Jason is not in the mood for games. He absolutely _despises_ Ben with everything in him. In fact, he's threatened the senior's life on multiple occasions.

"I kissed him and ran away, and I haven't seen him since. He hasn't hurt me, don't hurt him."

"Oh God," Locke mumbles. He is about to add on, _"You're dead meat," _but decides against it to save Tanner's hopes.

"Yeah. I've been stressing out."

"Don't worry about it. Hoffsteader _knows_ not to mess with me."

"For God's sake Jason, don't hurt him!"

"I never said I would! Just distributing some ruthless threats and warnings!"

Locke and Jason roll their eyes. Everyone else on the bus laughs a little bit as the bus pulls up to the school.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, Skeeter Hoffsteader-Odair and his girlfriend Rue are carpooling together in Rue's mom's car to the school. The two have been best friends since they were too young to remember, and got together toward the end of their freshman year.<p>

Skeeter is nervous for the day and has been for a while; Ben is his cousin (who hates him) and Tanner is his friend… He already talked with Tanner about the events between Tanner and Ben, and Skeeter's a little concerned for his friend's safety.

Rue keeps telling him that Tanner will be fine, and presenting the possibility that Ben changed. She is one of the few people that believes in Tanner's theory that Ben is good deep inside, just broken. Skeeter doesn't believe it for a single second. He is probably part of the reason for Jason's flaming hatred for Ben.

Rue and Locke support Tanner in his attempts to get to Ben's heart, as long as he doesn't get _himself_ hurt, while Skeeter and Jason are absolutely opposed to it. They don't understand how the hell Tanner could've possible fallen in love with someone who's inflicted so much pain on him.

The car parks at the school and the couple gets out, grabbing their backpacks and walking in together.

* * *

><p>The morning of assemblies seems to fly by, and soon it's lunch time.<p>

A girl with a single red ribbon in her hair sits by herself at a table, reading a book. She eats as she reads, though it is inefficient. Suddenly, a strong arm wraps around her shoulders as a smiling boy takes a seat next her with a loud greeting, "Hey Byna!"

Crawley puts his tray down and pats her back before he starts to eat, "Hope you don't mind my sitting here. You just looked a little lonely!" Crawley's younger sisters, a freshman named Rebecca and a sophomore named Miranda, soon sit by them along with Kelley, Posy, Locke, Jason, Tanner and Rue.

"Oh yeah, and I hope you don't mind my inviting some friends."

The girl is a little shell-shocked, but shrugs it off and puts a mark in her book, putting the book in her backpack. _It is not proper to read while talking to people. _One of the many pristine rules she learned from her intolerably old-fashioned parents.

"T-That's fine." She's a little overwhelmed still, but keeps eating as the group launches into excited chatter. She was always so okay with eating by herself, and this loud, friendly boy kept bringing laughter and friendship right to her.

"Great!" He smiled at Rue and Tanner, who aren't in the band, and introduced her, "Guys, these are my sisters, Rebecca and Miranda," he gestured to each of them, who waved a little, "And this is Anita, but we call her Aerobyna based off her favorite book character and her initials! Ha, that's super cool, ain't it?! She's a drum major and she's playing in pit for glee club! Anyways, Byn, this is Rue and Tanner. They both sing."

"Nice to meet you!" Rue says happily. Tanner keeps glancing around for Ben, but sees nothing of him.

Aerobyna just gives them a nod, smiling a little. "You too," she says quietly. "I play the clarinet and the organ."

"Cool!"

The group explodes into excited chatter, eating and laughing and sharing time together.

* * *

><p>Seventh period comes faster than anyone thought it would.<p>

When the kids walk into the room, they hear someone playing the piano in the front corner of the room. Though quiet, it's precise and masterful.

Aerobyna and Crawley walk in together, and when she hears the piano music she stops and looks over to the man behind the piano.

"I recognize that guy," she whispers as she and Crawley take a seat. "Yeah… He's my organ teacher's son! Fellington…"

Crawley looks over as the bell rings and the club's attention is brought to the front.

"Good morning!" Mr. Everdeen says, smiling at his glee club.

"Morning!" the students say enthusiastically. The club's singers include Tanner and Marvel, Rue, Skeeter, Prim, and Edward, Posy, Bonnie, and Kelley, Rebecca, and two other freshmen that nobody recognizes.

The pit includes Crawley, Aerobyna, Locke, Jason, and an assortment of other students with instruments.

"Welcome, one and all, to your glee club!" he smiles broadly. The students cheer happily.

"So, let's start with introductions. I am Mr. Everdeen, your glee club teacher." He waves over the young man that was sitting at the piano.

"This is your student teacher, Mr. Fellington." He smiled at the young man with black hair and green eyes. "Want to add anything?"

The college kid just shakes his head.

"So, let's start in the back with introductions. Go for it."

Prim is first. "Hi, I'm Prim, I'm a junior."

The introductions snake around the room, from Prim to Bonnie to Posy and Kelley to Rue and Skeeter and Edward to the pit and finally to the freshmen. The three freshmen are Rebecca, Crawley's sister, a girl with dark hair named Ashley, and another girl with dirty blonde hair named Priscilla.

"And finally, your seniors and leaders, Marvel and Tanner!" Both boys wave. Neither is confident in their ability to run a glee club, but they're going to try.

"And there we are… We have a great club this year and it's going to be amazing! We'll start singing first thing tomorrow, so be ready. But, for today, we'll have a free period considering we don't have a lot of time left anyways." He dissolves into talking to the student teacher, and the students soon dissolve into their own individual conversations.

Before the students know it, the bell rings. And with that, the first day of school is over.

The year is going to be a blast.

~.~.

_**A/N: Hello, and welcome to the third installment of the Hunger Games High School stories! If you're just joining, welcome, and if you're returning, I'm glad you're back! This year has already proven to be insane and I'm not even 10 days into school, so I'll say this: there will be at least one update every month. For this story I think I'll try to do a longer update and also a shorter update each month to not pile work on myself but also give you something to read. Alright, time for disclaimers. **_

_**I do not own the Hunger Games or any of its characters. **_

_**I also don't own Jason, Locke, or Aerobyna. They belong to my friend Sinfonian Legend. You should TOTALLY check her out! **_

_**There will be more disclaimers to come, I'm sure. Anyways, thanks for reading! **_


	2. Chapter 2: Sparks

_**A/N: If by some miracle this story gets any readers, I'll say that this chapter is OC-Centric. Future chapters will include more of Prim/Rory, Rue and Marvel, but until then, sorry. Read if you want, but this one just has OC's. **_

**Chapter Two: Sparks**

"Are you stupid?"

"Huh?"

Jason lets out an exasperated sigh and smacks his forehead. "Are you stupid? You must have a death wish! Do you realize what Hoffsteader's done to you, to everyone around him!?"

"I've been called stupid before," Tanner says with an ice-cold glare toward Jason. Locke sits in the corner of the room, his hands writhing nervously in his lap, biting his lip. He'd always known this was not going to be a pretty conversation, but he just sits and stays quiet. He promised Jason before it happened that he would unless things became extreme.

Jason swallows hard. A voice in the back of his head tells him he's being unreasonable, but Jason doesn't care. He takes a breath, trying to calm down just a little bit. "S-Sorry, those weren't the right words."

"Damn right they weren't!" Tanner retorts with a scowl.

Now Jason's the one being yelled at. He frowns and silently vows to think of his words before he says them. "I'm sorry, alright?"

"Fine."

"I only want what's best for you, Tanner! And I don't want you getting hurt. Skeeter feels the same way, believe it or not."

"Oh, I believe it," Tanner says, scowling.

"The point is that we only want what's best for you, and it's not him!"

"You think I don't know that!?" The senior keeps two tight fists at his sides. The retort throws Jason off and he's left dumbfounded. "Wh-what?"

"You think I want this!? You think I haven't been praying to God every night to get me out of it? You think I want to talk to Ben, after what happened? Because I sure don't," Tanner scowls, his voice shaking a little.

"Then don't do it!" It's the only solution that makes any kind of sense to Jason.

"It's not that easy!" Tanner tries to think of how he can put this into words that someone as oblivious and awkward as Jason can understand.

"How isn't it easy? You don't want to do it, just don't do it!"

"I dunno why! How the hell do you expect me to explain this to you when I'm still not sure about it myself!? I'm in love, Jason, I knew it from the very start and realized it a couple months ago! There's just… It's just…" Lacking a good explanation, Tanner groans and buries his face in his hands.

"It's just what?!" Jason blinks, still dumbfounded.

Tanner dramatically lowers his voice to a deep, quiet, but serious tone. "Jason, you don't understand. You don't understand because you've never even felt _close _to this way before."

"I-" he shut his mouth and stared at the floor. Tanner was… Right.

"I've been in love before…" Tanner's mind wanders, "But never like this. I don't like it, but it's been driving me crazy! I have to know. Even though I probably won't like the answer, I have to know."

"I still don't get it. If you don't like Ben so much, you can't be in love with him. That's just stupid."

"I don't dislike him. I dislike what he's being right now. But I know he can change. I'm determined to get him to change." Tanner clenches his teeth together tightly. "I don't like it, but it's what I have to do. Strip away the layers. He comes first, he comes before my family, he comes before my friends, he comes before _me._"

The whole conversation's been going over Jason's head, but especially this. "How!? How could you ever think of someone so terrible like that!?"

"_I don't know Jason_! I just don't know! Love is weird, but I have to sort it out now. I can't avoid him forever."

"Stick with me and you sure can," Jason mumbles. "You think I'd ever leave my knife at home?"

"Jason!" Locke whispers sharply. He was trying so hard to stay quiet, but just couldn't after a comment like that.

"Oh, relax. It'll only be used as a threat. For now."

"Don't threaten him!" Tanner says defensively. "I told you, he comes before me. Which means that I have to help him… No matter _how_ hard it is. Jason, I don't care if you don't like him. You sound like everyone else who's tried to talk me out of this."

"There've been others!?" Jason internally celebrates that he wasn't the only one.

"But I'm not listening to you. You don't understand, none of you've ever been this deep in love before." He tries to put it on some kind of relatable terms. "Like… Like Santana. That girl you had some weird connection with last year."

"Leave her out-"

"Sh. Listen. She was one of the most broken people out there. If you ever saw her broken… Wouldn't you at least want to try and fix her? When Locke lost his watch last year… He was so broken. Didn't you want to help him? Didn't you want to get it back for him?"

"Yes, but-"

"I don't care if they're just your friends, it's the same concept."

"How can you love someone you don't even know!?"

"I don't know! I told you, I'm still confused! But all I know is this: I'm going to talk to him. And you're not going to stop me." With this final conclusive statement, Tanner walks out the door, pushing past Jason.

Jason and Locke both stare after him, dumbfounded.

Tanner's comparison helped Jason to pin a feeling to the description, but he still doesn't understand. _Locke and Santana are people I really care about… But they're people I know really well. How can Tanner feel such a connection to such a douchebag like Ben when he isn't sure the guy even HAS a good side? How can someone feel that way about some asswad they don't even know? _

_Oh, God. Love is so weird._

* * *

><p>Tanner walks up and down the sidewalk in the city, biting his lip, trying to calm down. He's so stressed out, so worked up, so incredibly upset he's tearing himself apart.<p>

He knows what he has to do. He has to talk to Ben tomorrow, no matter wha-

A hand grabs Tanner's shoulder and drags him behind a building before he has time to realize what happened. He's about to make some kind of scream when a rough but firm hand cups his jaw and tilts his head upwards, and rough but all-too-gentle lips press against his own.

It's all too familiar; the taste, the scent, the feeling… Tanner's heart practically stops, his eyes sliding shut… Before he knew it, Ben pulled away, his hand releasing Tanner's jawline, turning away from him.

Tanner watches, still shocked and heart pounding hard. It's just then he remembers to breathe.

"B-Be-"

But he's cut off, "Shut up." The skinnier, taller senior takes a breath before he speaks again, in a low, quiet voice. "I never got to tell you but… Thank you."

"Huh?"

"I said _thank you. _In case you haven't noticed, no one cares about me at all. They're rude. Mean. Why are you different?"

"I… I don't know. I fell in love with you somehow. Don't ask how because I don't know. I guess I saw something in you that no one else has seen. And I want to bring it out. But I can't explain how, or why-"

"I get it."

Boy, this guy's just full of surprises today, isn't he!? Tanner raises an eyebrow, "Hm?"

"_I get it_. I've been avoiding you for all this time because…" he hangs his head, "Because I thought that maybe it would change. I thought I'd get over it, grow out of it. And yet we're here. I haven't. I was so wrong, but what does it matter now?!"

Tanner's eyes are wide as he takes in every detail of this very moment, the moment Ben Hoffsteader broke down in front of his very eyes.

"But…" he takes a step forward, "It's never too late."

"Yes it is! I've ruined _lives_, Tanner!"

"But now you can help build them up again!"

"Everyone hates me!"

"That can change." Tanner's expression is soft and encouraging.

"I'm fucked up like you wouldn't believe."

"That doesn't matter! None of that matters now! I'm here to help you!"

"So!?"

"So, that's one more person fighting for you than you had yesterday! And I'm ready to help you because I l… I really like you." He corrects himself last-minute. "I'll be there for you, always. Please, Ben. _Please._ Just let me in." It was such a desperate effort, but the pleading was evident in the crystal tears forming in Tanner's blue eyes.

Ben softens immediately. He breaks eye-contact and stares at the ground, taking a step closer. He takes Tanner's hand gently in his own and holds it lightly. "Fate's such a bitch."

Tanner actually laughs a little. Through the tsunami of emotions he's feeling, he laughs. It's the best Tanner's felt in days, weeks, months, maybe even years. Seeing Ben smile: a real smile, not that smirk or fake smile: makes it all better. Makes it all worth it.

"It's not going to be easy," he says, smile fading. Tanner decides he wants to see that smile again. He wants to see it often, frequently… He wants to see it all the time.

"But nothing easy is really worth it in the end." He brings Ben's hand up to his lips and gently kisses it. "And something tells me this'll be worth it." He pushes thoughts of Skeeter and Jason and Crawley and the rest of the glee club's thoughts out of his mind.

Then he realizes something powerful. _I was right. Everyone else, everyone that doubted me, told me I shouldn't… They were all wrong! I was right! I WAS RIGHT! I believed in myself, and I was right! _

He laughed again. He knows he can do anything! He gains a load of self-confidence in that moment, and happiness. He feels safe, like nothing could ever happen to him or Ben or anyone ever again.

"What's funny?" the expression on Ben's face was borderline hurt. "N-Not mocking me already, right?"

Tanner looks over, his joyfulness increased. "Of course not! Really, I'm not. I just… I'm happy. Aren't you?"

"I guess. I'm just… Not quite as optimistic as you are. Never will be."

"That's okay. But… You should try to forget. Just for a second, forget about all of them. Forget about everyone, everything that bothers you. And just think of me. I'll be your best friend, whatever you want me to be. I won't even tell anyone, if you don't want me to."

"That includes-"

"Yes, it includes Jason and Skeeter as well. And Locke, and all of them."

"You'd do that?"

"I'd do anything."

Ben looks at him, this shorter, blue-eyed, dark-haired boy that's already changed his life so much…

"I can't believe it. I don't deserve you at all. I'm sorry you ended up with someone so broken like me."

"That's okay. I'll fix you, Hoffsteader. I promise I'll fix you, no matter how hard it is." He smiled up at Ben, and after a pause, Ben smiled down at him again.

_Some story, _Tanner thought, _the time I found love in an alleyway of the city. And kissed my bully twice-_

Lips pressed against his again and he kissed back. The touch was gone soon, though, and he watched Ben walk away from there, a weird kind of skip in his step.

_Scratch that. Three times. _


	3. Chapter 3: Hey! Baby

**Chapter Three: Hey! Baby**

Prim walks into school that Monday, dressed in a pink, flowery, tropical dress. Her long blonde hair is tied in pigtails with little pink flowers tied around them. It's Spirit Week at Panem High, and today is Tropical Monday.

Prim is a member of the school's student council, which means she has to participate in Spirit week, even if she doesn't want to. Not that Prim minded, though, she was having fun already and felt very cute.

Rue and Skeeter both wear Hawaiian shirts and shorts, not going quite as far as Prim but still looking quite tropical. Tanner wears a Hawaiian shirt and jeans, with a straw hat that isn't permitted in school unless he's outside. The three of them walk into school together, going through the metal detectors like all students must and then taking a seat in the cafeteria as they waited to be released to their lockers and their homerooms. Looking around, Tanner accidentally makes eye-contact with Ben and cracking a smile. Ben laughs a little and looks away, putting his head down on the desk and blushing dark red.

Prim waves to the trio as she takes a seat and soon she sees Rory, dressed up in a dark hoody, jeans, and boots.

Prim stares at him, trying not to laugh. "Rory! What happened to, _Of course I'll dress up for Spirit Week!_?"

Rory shrugs, "I did. I'm having an anti-spirit week."

Prim just looks at him, bewildered. "Excuse me?"

"An anti-spirit week," the Hawthorne boy repeats, grinning and feeling very clever. "It's the opposite of spirit week."

_Well, that explains what he's wearing, _Prim thinks. "I will never understand you," she finally sighs, though she tries not to smile or giggle like she wants to.

"But you love me anyways!" he says, grinning cutely and wrapping his arms around her.

Prim has to laugh, "Heaven only knows why…"

Rory smiles, "So, what's tomorrow, again?"

Prim looks at him, trying to look unamused but cracking, "Twin Tuesday." Her bright blue eyes give away her amusement, and Rory sees it right away, his smile brightening.

"And Wednesday?"

"Way-back Wednesday." By now, Prim just tries not to giggling thinking about the ridiculous costumes or outfits her boyfriend might be planning to wear.

"I see that look you're giving me!" Rory says, laughing, "And I don't appreciate it!"

"What are you going to do? Dump me?" the sassy eleventh-grader studies him, a critical expression on her face hiding her giddy happiness. "You're lucky to have scored someone like me," she says, in the most sarcastically serious voice she could muster.

"I could never dump you. Not even in a joking way," he says, keeping his arms around her. He's smiling and little laughs escape his mouth, but Prim knows by his tone that the statement was very serious.

"Good. Because I love you. Dorky outfits, anti-spirit week and all."

Rory laughs happily and kisses the top of her head. "And I love you too, babe."

* * *

><p>"Alright, this place is already really weird and all, but why do you all look so stupid today?"<p>

The kids of the glee club exchange a glance amongst each other. Last year, they had a student teacher that was exciting, relatable, and cool, but this one… This one is definitely a lot more of a piece of work. His name is Mr. Fellington, and he's not from the area, nor is he very open minded.

The vast majority of the glee club and the pit are dressed up tropically, but none of them look even remotely fashionable except for Prim and, surprisingly, Locke. Jason chose to sit out of spirit week, (he always has), and Posy joined the bandwagon for Rory's alternative, the Anti-Spirit Week.

Their student teacher, an… unpleasant young man with tan skin, dark curly hair, and judgmental green eyes. He scales all of them with his eyes and waits for someone to speak up.

"It's spirit week," Tanner says, and everyone looks over at him.

"Spirit week?"

"Tropical Monday," Skeeter adds awkwardly. The others nod quickly.

"Tropical Monday," the student teacher echoes, glancing at all of them in a moment of silence. "Of _course_ it is."

Mr. Everdeen steps in, trying to release the tension, "Right, uh, well then! Let's do some interval review and get things started…" He and Mr. F. pass out the papers with the review written on it, but that doesn't help the students' dislike for this new student teacher.

* * *

><p>Rue and Skeeter twin together the next day for Twin Tuesday. Prim twins with Miranda, Rue with Skeeter, Marvel with Poppy, Crawley with Byna (she's only doing it because she <em>has <em>to), Bonnie with Kelley, and Locke with a very grudging Jason. (Or, well, basically, Locke wears the same colors as Jason but in a more stylish outfit.)

Rory wears a brightly colored T-shirt to ensure that he won't look anything like anyone. Posy chooses to wear a skin-colored outfit. Ashley and Priscilla, two freshmen girls, twin together, winning the prize for most similar outfits down to the matching ribbon in her hair.

Seventh period comes around and once again the pairs of twins are being criticized silently by their student teacher. He passes out some sight-reading and sighs when he hands the piano part to Byna. "Even you, Anita Elisabeth? Aren't you a little old for this?" He somewhat knew her; he was in college when his Mom moved here and started teaching Byna organ lessons.

"I-I have to do it for student council," she says quietly. "And please, call me Byna- er, uh, Aerobyna."

He furrows his brow in judgment but just sighs, "Well whatever sails your ship." Before he moves on.

When Byna looks up from her stand, she sees bright, smiling gray eyes with shaggy, dirty blonde hair hanging in them. Crawley grins and goes back to looking over the music, a blush painting his cheeks.

_That is one cool girl._

* * *

><p>The next day is Way-Back Wednesday, in which the children are supposed to dress from the past. Prim dresses like an Indian, and Skeeter dresses like someone from the Wild West. Rue wears a poodle skirt and Tanner dresses in Grease-like rebel garb from the 70's. Edward and Kelley both dress like hippies and Bonnie dresses like a flapper from the 20's; Locke dresses in the red and white-striped suit of a barbershop-quartet singer.<p>

Rory and Posy dress futuristically for their anti-spirit week, and Jason refused to twin with Locke's "ridiculous" barbershop outfit. (Somehow, though, Locke _still _looks pretty good!)

Byna wears a polka-dot dress that is seemingly straight from the 1940's, Crawley wears a suit and a fedora from the 50's. Today, Mr. Fellington doesn't even ask what they're dressed as, and doesn't say a word throughout rehearsal.

Thursday is spirit day, and some people, like Crawley, wear the Panem colors: purple, green, and black, and even paint their faces in honor of the event. Today even Jason and the others that have refused spirit week decide to participate. The Panem spirit is high, in all except for Rory, who jokingly wears blue-gray, gold, and white, the Captiol Academy colors, and Posy, who wears red, white, and blue for Liberty High.

Mr. Fellington sulks as his face is painted by Mr. Everdeen. Soon glitter and paint are passed around, and everyone has Panem colors on their faces except for the anti-Spirit-week kids. Byna puts up a hand when Crawley offers his paint to her, and he shrugs a little. "Oh, okay… But I will paint your face tomorrow night!"

She sighs quietly. Really, Byna would like to paint her face, but if her parents saw, they would surely have a fit. After all, that dress she wore the previous day is something her parents still urge her to wear today. Even Mr. Fellington groans and stares at his black and green cheeks in the mirror, grumbling about how his Mom would be _so _disappointed and upset…

* * *

><p>That Friday is a teacher-inservice day, which means that the kids don't have to go to school but the teachers have to go attend meetings and such. Student council has to show up and decorate the stadium for the football game that would be going on that evening.<p>

Soon, the time for the game arrives, and the band meets in the auditorium to prepare.

Byna pulls her ponytail through her hat just as Crawley appears, holding those little containers of colorful paint. He has three streaks already painted on his cheeks, and he holds them out to her with a smile. "Do it!"

"Crawley, thanks for the offer, but I'm really okay."

"Aw, come on. Please? For me?" he tries the big gray puppy eyes, but Byna is stronger than she looks. She shakes her head, not wanting to be yelled at by her parents.

"Just a purple streak? We're drum majors, it's our job to be exciting! Maybe green? Some black?"

She wearily looks at the green paint, wondering if maybe that wouldn't stain. She quickly shakes her head as the third drum major, Cutter, skips over, his cheeks smudged with black sparkles that had to have come from a dancer.

"Hey guys!" he sings, a smile on his face, "Aren't you excited!?"

"Yeah!" Crawley chirps back, and Byna smiles slightly and nods. She's still not as comfortable around Cutter as she is around Crawley, but a light blush spread across her cheeks at the thought.

"Byna needs to paint her face!" Crawley says, jumping up and down at the excitement.

"Yeah!" Cutter says quickly.

"Uh, I don't know…" Byna mumbles.

Crawley suddenly lights up with an idea. An idea that involves the dance that would be happen tomorrow night…

"Hey, I'm going to be right back!" he says, to which the others shrug. He stands in front of the band in the auditorium and gets their attention. When the room silences, he starts in a whisper. "Hey, guys, I'm going to ask Byna to homecoming, and I want to do it when we're singing Hey Baby. So, if you could all do me a favor and sing a teeny bit quieter, that'd be way cool!"

Everyone exchanges a look, the auditorium soon erupting into chaotic happy shouting. Rebecca squeals and exchanges a hyper glance with Miranda, who is sitting across the auditorium. Everyone is full of excited energy for the events of the night, as Crawley goes back to the others.

Rebecca is the first to suggest that everyone stop playing and singing completely so that everyone could hear Crawley sing. It spreads like wildfire, and soon everyone agrees that they're going to give the Archer boy his big solo.

Soon, they're all shooed off to march up to the football stadium.

* * *

><p>Tanner drives to the stadium by himself, humming happily as he pulls the Panem sweatshirt over his shoulders. From the corner or his eye he sees someone very familiar, so he stops and rolls down the window.<p>

"Hey Hoffsteader," he says, the corner of his mouth turning up into a smirk-like smile, "What're you doing by yourself?"  
>Ben stares, his mouth turning into a half-scowl. "I-I could ask you the same question!"<p>

"I'm going to the football game." He unlocks the car door, "Hop in."

Ben hesitates, but then he slides in the car. "Fine."

"Good, so it's a date."

"Date!?" Ben splutters, as Tanner gets back to driving.

"You were the one that got in the car," Tanner shrugs.

"But you never asked me if it'd be a date!"

"Fine. Ben, wanna go on a date?" Tanner stops at a stoplight and looks over at Ben, laughter dancing in his eyes.

"Yes," mutters Ben.

Tanner laughs out loud, "Good."

A blush paints across Ben's cheeks at Tanner's amusement. "Shut up."

Tanner laughs some more before he realizes: "People are going to see us together." His stomach flops.

"So what?"

"You really don't care?"

"They're all gonna know sometime. Might as well give 'em something to talk about."

"Even Skeeter and Jason?"

Ben thinks for a second before his face sets determinedly. "Even Rothman and Gutterball."

* * *

><p>The air makes Byna's ponytail sway a little bit and sends a chill up Crawley's spine as the band marches up to the stadium. She surrendered to two small streaks of green face paint across her cheeks. The more Crawley thinks of this... Very... Public invitation to the dance, the more he doubts it's good idea.<br>_Too late now_, he thinks, taking a little breath of the chilly air and getting lost in the percussion cadence once again.

The group arrives at the stadium and takes their spots for the pre-game show. Byna stands tall on the center podium, Crawley to her left and Cutter to her right.

After the Star-Spangled Banner and the Panem High Alma Mater, the band plays the school's fight song as the football team, including Marvel, take the field. The crowd, which contains Poppy, Rory and Posy, Edward, and Rue and Skeeter, erupts into loud applause and shouting. Ben and Tanner come in late, sitting next to Rue and Skeeter.

"Tanner!" Rue says with a smile. She glances past him, smiling at Ben too. "Hi Ben."

"Hey," he mumbles. He exchanges a wary look with Skeeter before sitting. Tanner smiles like a little taking Ben's hand and chirping out, "We're on a date!"

This gets Skeeter's attention. "Excuse me!?" He asks, blinking in shock.

"Uh, yeah," Ben mumbles embarrassedly.

Skeeter stares at them, dumbfounded. He honestly didn't think Tanner would get that far.

"Be careful with him," Skeeter says warningly, turning back to the game.

"Don't worry," Tanner says, sitting next to Ben and taking his hand. "I have all the faith in the world."

* * *

><p>The band, meanwhile, jams out to songs and cadences all night long, having a blast. Crawley keeps his eyes on Byna and looking away when she looks over over at him.<p>

After the second quarter, they perform their halftime show and then watch as Liberty High does their show. Locke and Jason excitedly see familiar faces, and even Byna lights up at seeing people she knows.

After halftime, Liberty High sends over a group of seniors to visit with the Panem band, and Byna catches up with some old friends with Liberty. Cutter spends his time helplessly glancing at the other Panem seniors, trying to get away from one of Liberty's drum majors, a towering boy with piercing silver eyes. Crawley talks with the other drum major, a short girl named Chicory, when suddenly the moment arrives.

"Playing Hey Baby at the quarter!" Their teacher announces.

Crawley's swears inside his head as the drum majors scurry to their podiums. The other seniors and those from Liberty keep talking as everyone gets their instruments ready and the clock hits zero.

Byna counts it off in her large drum major voice and the tubas and low brass start playing their part.

And as everyone is supposed to sing, Crawley loudest of them all, the entire band stops.

And watches.

Crawley's so nervous and in his zone that he doesn't even notice the silence until he notices the frantic look on Byna's face.

_OhmyGod they all just stopped playing!_ She thinks, finally blinking at Crawley, who's still belting at the top of his lungs:  
>"Heeeeeyyyyyy, hey Byna!<br>I wanna knooooooooowwww,  
>If you'll be my homecomingdate!"<p>

So he tried to replace a one-syllable word with one that has four syllables. It's Crawley.

He sings it a second time, and that's when Byna actually picks up on the words.  
>"Heeeeeyyyyyy, hey Byna!<br>I wanna knooooooooowwww,  
>If you'll be my homecomingdate!"<p>

The rest of the band starts playing again after that, or, well, the ones that weren't laughing their asses off.

Byna didn't really know what to do except for just keep conducting through to the end of he song.

After the final note, the whole band erupts into giggles and shouting.

"Nice to see you using your voice somewhere that isn't the shower!" Shouts Rebecca. The tenor saxophones surrounding her burst into laughter.

"You should join glee club, Crawley!" Kelley shouts, and the senior blushes hard and looks at the floor. Everyone watches Byna and she looks shell-shocked.

"Well?" Crawley smiles up at her, his eyes twinkling with curiosity and suspense, "Will you go to homecoming with me?"

She blinks, not sure what to do or what to say. _Well, my parents are forcing me to go, and I would like to have someone there too, I guess… _Barely even noticing the entire band and seniors of Liberty staring at her, Byna nods.

The band erupts into cheers, and the Liberty seniors burst into laughter.

* * *

><p>After a valiant effort by Liberty High, Panem wins the football game 21-17. The band marches back to the school wearing their hats on backwards in celebration. Then everyone packs up and waits outside for their parents.<p>

Byna washes off her face in the bathroom and looks relieved to see that the green paint didn't stain her cheeks with color. Then she grabs her stuff, says goodbye to Cutter, and starts out the door when suddenly she feels a hand on her shoulder.

She gasps, startled, as Crawley flips the hair out of his eyes and laughs, "Oh, sorry 'bout that!" Ever since Hey Baby, he's been in a pretty great mood.

"It's… It's okay…" she says quietly.

"Anyways," he says, "I wanted to talk to you for a sec. Are your parents coming to get you?"

Byna shakes her head, "No, they're not."

"Good, then we can chat."

"About?"

"Homecoming. The dance."

She blinks at him, "What about it?"

"Well… I dunno. I mean, when do you want me to pick you up, what colors you may be considering wearing so I can get a tie to match…"

"We're going to match?"

"Well we're going together, aren't we?" he deflates a little bit, realizing she may've only said yes so that he wasn't humiliated in front of everyone.

"Yeah, we are…"

"Then we'll match. After all, dates usually do match going to dances."

Byna looks over, blinking and still not really getting it. "Huh?"

Crawley swears inside his head. He should've made his intent clearer… He sighs a little. "Uh, well…" he scratches the back of his neck awkwardly, "Look, let me say this… I really like you, Byn… Like, more than friends kind of way. And, uh, well, I wanted to know if you'd be me date to the dance. And maybe then my girlfriend."

She looks over, eyes flickering up and looking at his face. "Oh…" she gets it now. "I like you too, really… But… My parents would kill me if I were to get a boyfriend." She doesn't want to reject him, she really doesn't want to say no, but Byna is rational and smart enough to know that she has to.

"I'm so sorry…" she says, in a little whisper. "I really do like you, so much, but I can't risk getting in trouble with my parents… If they heard I had a _boyfriend_… They'd kill me."

"Then…" he thought, gradually growing more and more upset before having an idea. "What if… What if we're not boyfriend and girlfriend? What if… We're more than friends, but not officially titled…? Would you be up for that?"

She stares at his expression, debating it.

"Uh… Like what?"

"Like, well… We could call it… _Friends with benefits_."

"Benefits? Like what?" she asks, confused.

"Like…" he isn't sure what words he could say that would convey the meaning. "Like…" He takes a step closer and soon his warm lips are pressed against hers. She kisses back, and the kiss is over much before either of them would've liked. He pulls back and gives her a little nod before walking away and mumbling, "Think about it."

He walks away awkwardly to his car, where Miranda and Rebecca are waiting for him. He makes small-talk with his sisters, though his mind is still stuck on his talk with Byna.

Anita Elisabeth walks home by herself that night, still unsure what to think.

Both of them would like to have the weekend to think through this, but they have to see each other again the very next night at the dance.


	4. Chapter 4: Halloweentime and Panem High

**Chapter 4: Halloweentime and Panem High**

The town of Panem is covered in a thick layer of nightly darkness even though it's the morning. The moon isn't quite full… But it will be the next night.

The wind whips past Tanner Cooper's face.

Pairs of glowing red eyes appear from behind bushes, rocks, and trees.

Something howls.

Someone screams.

This is Tanner's second Halloween at Panem High, but this year he's got nothing to worry about. Last year, as a junior, he was bitten by a vampire and then kissed by one who wields the power of dark magic. He's one of them now.

He pushes the door open and walks inside the dark high school. He waves hello to Rue and Skeeter, who hold hands and laugh at sticking their hands through the walls and their lockers. He pats Edward's head and scratches Locke behind the ears on his way to his locker. Locke makes a blissfully happy whimpering noise he immediately regrets and turns in towards his locker to hide the blush of embarrassment.

Tanner waves to Headless Jason Hollow, who gives what appears to be an attempt at a nod in greeting. Jason then realizes he doesn't have a head to nod with and, with a loud swear word, goes to some corner to sulk.

He puts his books in his locker: he won't be needing any of _those _books today. Instead he gets the magic books and guides to being a vampire out of his locker, puts them in his pack, and shuts it.

He walks to homeroom before, in a flash, Ben has him pinned.

"Happy Dead Day, Cooper," Ben says, smiling.

"It seems like just yesterday you tried to suck me dry," Tanner says, half-teasingly.

"Yeah… Sorry."

"Eh. No big deal. I got kissed by a ringmaster, after all… Which means that I'm taking magic classes."

Ben makes a face. "You'd better not get a dumb scepter like that guy."

Tanner laughs, "Well now I hope I do!"

Ben rolls his eyes but a small smile plays on his lips. "Of course you do." He touches his lips to Tanner's before nodding a little, "I'll talk to you later."

And just like that, he's gone.

Tanner keeps on his way to class, smiling a little bit. This is a good time of year.

~.~.

Byna, however, well, she has a little bit of a different situation.

She never liked Halloween. It's the same day as her birthday, and she can't say she's a big fan of the attention it brings her both in school and at home. She lived through it back at Liberty by the prospect of monster hunting: though her parents kept a close watch on her during the holiday, during the school day sometimes she'd manage to injure a werewolf and knock a vampire or two out cold.

Yeah, Byna liked monster hunting before, but now she's surrounding by hungry-looking red eyes and weapon-less. It's hard for her to not look afraid… _Where are all the other humans!? _

She walks to her locker, hanging her head down so no one could see her all-too-human eyes. She reeks to them of human, though, and gets a good share of hungry looks from the assorted monsters that wander the halls. She pulls some books out of her locker, taking a particularly heavy one just in case she might have to throw it at someone.

These are her friends, but she wants to survive, too… _Why have I been so overwhelmed with tough decisions lately!? _she groans.

Suddenly, she sees a figure pop out from a doorway. Startled, she lets out a little squeak despite herself. This is something you'd definitely see in the horror movies. Light brown hair shagged over her face that touches her feet, dislocated joints, dark eyes, stitched body parts… Byna almost has to look away.

"Hi there Byna!" Rebecca says, her face, which was already doll-like to begin with, looking a lot more doll-like: but in a creepy kind of way.

"H-Hey," she says quietly. Byna can't help but notice how much the freshman reeks like Crawley. N-Not that Byna knew what Crawley smells like, no, it's just… It's… Ah, forget it!

Rebecca grabs Byna's arm and drags her into a closet. Byna is too taken by surprise to fight back, staring at the freshman with wide eyes.

"Byna, I'm not really a monster." The freshman giggles, "Cliff can't resist temptation, so I dress up like one. But I'm not really, honest."

The senior keeps her eyes on the freshman, a little amazed. "Cliff?" she asks.

"Yeah, Cliff. Older brother. He graduated already, but you see… Well, if you're a monster you're doomed to coming back here every Halloween. Can't have a bloodthirsty beast running around at college…"

"Oh…" Byna says, still having some trouble processing all this.

"My three older brothers think I've been this way since birth, idiots," Byna can't help but feel a little offended on Crawley's behalf, "But the jokes on them. Apparently I can just do a really convincing paint job."

"It's very convincing."

"Thanks! Just a warning, you might want to be careful if you don't want to get bit. I wish I had weapons…"

"Wow, you're a true Liberty kid." Byna finds her voice again when the initial shock fades.

"Yeah, but I don't want to kill anyone. I'm friends with these people. I just want to sedate them or make them loopy. I don't trust devout monster hunters, though. They probably wouldn't trust me either…"

"But couldn't you prove that it's all make-up and contacts?"

"I could, but I still reek like monster. It's because I'm wearing a pair of Crawley's boxers that haven't been washed in a long time." She quickly adds, "Because he's been meaning to throw them out! No, no, he washes the underwear he wears, I think." So much for being a "wing-man" like she said she would. Rebecca pulls up the shirt she's wearing and gestures to the heart-printed boxers. "They really reek."

"Yeah, they do," Byna agrees. A smile spreads across her face as she wonders how often exactly Crawley wears heart-printed boxers.

"Well, anyways, if you need me, I'll be around. I could help you too if you wanted."

"No thanks." The thought of even pretending to be a creature of the night was sickening to the past Liberty student.

"Whatever floats your boat," Rebecca shrugs, then winks. "Good luck."

She slips out of the room and Byna follows.

As soon as Byna exits the room, a whoosh of wind gushes past, and suddenly red eyes that look familiar smile down at her. "Good morning," Crawley says sweetly.

"C-Crawley."

He flashes her a toothy smile, flashing his fangs. "How are you?"

"I'm okay…" she looks around for a witness just in case. He seems to be inching closer to her with each coming second.

"Good. Well, you smell great."

"You reek," she deadpanned, taking a step back.

Crawley laughs and keeps coming closer. Byna keeps stepping away, though part of her doesn't want to be so far away.

"Hey," Crawley laughs, "This is like Twilight, but a lot less nauseating!"

Byna rolls her eyes, holding up the heavy book. "I will use this. Keep in mind I was a good monster hunter back home."

"You wouldn't do that to me," Crawley says with a little hungry hiss.

Byna smacks him across the head with her book, hard, and he's knocked out cold. Byna smiles a little, knowing she's still got it. "Actually," she says to the knocked out boy, "Yes I would."

Feeling pleased with herself, Byna has to step over the body to walk to class.

~.~.

Prim flutters through the hall, a smile on her face.

Her eyes are light, rosy pink and they convey her radiant calm happiness.

Prim is an angel.

She goes back and forth between fluttering around using her white, feathery wings and walking on her sandaled feet. Her blonde hair, practically shining like gold, swishes behind her. Her radiant beauty is practically unarguable, her laughter rings like bells, and she brings an aura of calmness and warmth wherever she goes.

She has a small field of light surrounding her in the depths of the dark high school.

Rory, however, is the complete opposite.

Sharp teeth, black skin with ugly reddish welts, completely blacked-out eyes…

A king of the darkness, a demon, possibly a glance at the face of Satan himself.

Though the couple agreed to avoid each other, it's inevitable that the two worlds crash together considering their shared 3rd period study hall.

Prim sits far away from her boyfriend, but her lingering innocence and grace are tempting to Rory: too tempting.

The demon lingers nearer and hearer to the angel, who can feel his dark presence coming closer.

Finally, she has to turn around. Rory's blood-red eyes glow. "Good morning, sweet…" he hisses.

"Hello," Prim says curtly, looking away.

"How are you feeling?" he asks, hungry eyes drilling through her.

Prim sighs a little, trying to stay proper, "I'm okay."

"You'd make a pretty little angel of darkness," he says quietly.

Prim finally turns back around to look at him.

"I'm a good girl," she says matter-of-factly, "Not a rule-breaker."

"Well you _would _be learning from the best."

"Trust me, I know that…" She turns around, trying to resist the temptation.

"Come on, Primrose. Being good is for losers."

She scoffs a little, smiling despite herself. "Back a long time ago, Eve gave into temptation and through that she screwed over humanity."

"Yeah, but Satan was an angel once, too…" Rory takes a seat beside her, smiling. "You should just kiss me already…" he whispers, that hungry smile never faltering.

"And angel's kiss can be purifying," says Prim.

"Well, aren't you curious at all what would happen!? Who's aura is stronger!?"

"I don't want to be damned to hell," Prim says, writing furiously in her notebook and trying to shoo him away.

"If you're a creature of the dark, though, you wouldn't mind." He has a convincing argument.

_Which would be stronger? _Prim thinks, _The power of my purity of that of his darkness? _

She shakes off the thought stubbornly. She likes herself how she is, and that's final.

Well… Maybe…

Curiosity may've killed the cat, but discovery brought it back to life, right?

When he leans in, she doesn't fight it.

The second their lips touch, both Rory and Prim feel strong energy, and the kiss doesn't last very long before both of them are blasted backwards by a huge force. Prim hits the wall and the air is knocked out of her, while Rory actually touches the ceiling.

Splotchy black spots cover Prim's wings and black streaks her hair, though she gradually gets her angel aura back and becomes pure again. Rory, who's fangs had gone and skin had lightened to a more radiant color, eventually restores to his own self, too, but not before Prim saw a glance of one of his eyes, which had turned gold.

Prim and Rory exchange a look and burst out laughing.

~.~.

Seventh period rolls around and the glee club bounces excitedly to the choir room. Last year at this time, they had met Mr. K., their first student teacher. Maybe Mr. Fellington can prove his worth today.

Byna slides into a seat behind the piano. Protected by the large black instrument, she keeps her heavy textbook beside her. Hey, it's already saved her life once.

Crawley walks into the room, a big red bump on his head. Byna snickers to herself from behind the piano. Luckily for Crawley, nobody asks about it.

Prim, still in a bit of a daze from what happened with Rory, sits in the back. Bonnie, a fortune-teller, and Posy, a spider-girl, sit with her.

Rue and Skeeter sit in the middle row together. Tanner along with Marvel, a scarecrow, sit with Edward.

Kelley stumbles around the room, moaning in a thick Irish accent for brains.

Locke and Jason sit with Crawley and the rest of the pit. Both of them get out their instruments, though the band kids glance at headless Jason, confused on how he intends to play a trumpet with no head. When he starts to warm up, everyone's amazed.

"How'd you do that!?" Locke asks, swatting the open air where Jason's head should be.

"I... I don't know..." Says Jason. It's decided that it's just the Eighth Wonder of the World.

Crawley takes out his instrument as well, though his head is still hurting a little from being hit.

In the back sit the two freshman, both humans.

_Freshman?_ Today, it's literally more like fresh meat.

Somehow, both of them survived the whole school day as humans. Like Byna, their defenses have been worse than expected for the hungry monsters.

However, in such a small space with so few people, the girls barely stand a chance. No teacher is in the room, and so the fight for the bite begins.

Vampires (Crawley and Tanner) versus werewolves (Locke and Edward), and Kelley the lone zombie challenges them on his own.

Posy looks over, asking Bonnie, "What do you see?" Maybe she wants to join in the fight...

Bonnie just blinks. "Th...that can't be right..."

"What?"

Bonnie shakes her head.

The battle starts quite suddenly.

"ROCK, PAPER, SCISSORS, SHOOT!" Kelley's arm goes flying and he shouts, "SHIT!"

The arm has its hand in a tight fist, Crawley does paper, and Locke does scissors.

They all groan, seeing as there was no winner.

"ROCK, PAPER, SCISSORS- SHIT!" Kelley's wrist falls off his arm in a paper position.

Unfortunately, Edward and Tanner both did paper, too.

"Oh, come on!" Crawley shouts, and the others (excluding the freshmen) laugh.

They take a while to finally decide.

Rue and Skeeter wonder why they don't just add Byna to the deal and each get one.

It's because they're stupid.

Finally, Kelley (after losing a finger and his other arm) loses as a rock to two papers.

"Maybe next year," Edward says, smirking victoriously and patting his brother's head, "But hopefully you get bit by something else before then..." Glancing around hopefully, Edward sighs when there aren't any takers. Kelley's good at getting brains, as proven last year when he got a monster hunter from Liberty.

Tanner and Locke are sent after the two freshmen, who sit in their corner with wide eyes.

Byna jumps up to stop the attackers, but it's too late for Priscilla, who's pounced on by a very apologetic (but very satisfied) Locke.

Tanner throws Ashley against a wall and grins, but before he can bite, flashes of orange light escape from the freshman's hands, blowing Tanner backwards and causing him to hit the wall hard.

A scepter that glows orange and sports a dying black tree on the inside appears in her fist and her maroon eyes flicker orange before glowing red.

Tanner is knocked out cold from hitting the wall, and everyone glances back and forth between him and the freshman, besides Bonnie, who looks somewhat unsurprised.

"How'd you do that!?" Skeeter asks.  
>Ashley gazes into the crystal of her scepter, wide-eyed.<p>

"Just like Arrow..." She whispers.

_He was someone that was really nice to her back in the orphanage. Besides Priscilla, her best friend. Halloween after Halloween, he showed off tidbits of the dark magic he could do, sparkles that came from his fingertips, hypnosis, conjuring up the scepter... All while she watched, longing to do things as cool as that. He'd always explained how he did these things, but she had no clue she could use them... Not until now. Staring into the orange scepter with the dying tree inside, all she can feel is a strong power within her. She just has to learn how to harness it..._

She decides she'll go looking for Arrow as soon as glee club ends.

Edward sews Kelley's arms, hands, and finger back on and Marvel wakes Tanner up as their student teacher enters the room.

As he enters, Rue sings "This Is Halloween" under her breath. It doesn't take long for the others to happily join in. Even the pit takes to singing, trying to figure out the notes, though everyone's quickly hushed by Mr. Fellington. The kids quiet, noticing his still-green eyes. Edward has to hold Kelley back from attacking.

"I've always heard Halloween's taken seriously here..." He grumbles, "But this is ridiculous. It's so dark in this school..."

"Well yeah," Marvel says simply, "The vampires threatened to suck the principal dry if he didn't at least dim the lights."

Mr. F. glares at him. "There are no such thing as vampires. No such thing as monsters. You all know that."

There's a second of silence. Then the entire club bursts out laughing.

"You can't be serious!" Crawley says above the laughter.

"What do you think we are?" Asks Skeeter.

"BRAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIINS!" shouts Kelley.

"Stop being so crazy!" Their student teacher roars. The kids go quiet, thinking how scary this guy is and he's a human!

"You may have good costumes, but stop acting like children. We aren't in elementary school. You're human high school students, act like it."

The kids try not to smile.

"But Mr. Fellington, we really are monsters!" Rue tries. Mr. F. glares at them.

"Cut it out!" he says. He gestures to Byna, "Just look here at Anita Elisabeth." Crawley smiles lovingly but the mentioned girl blushes out of her dislike for attention. Me. Fellington continues, "At least someone in this room can act sane."

"It's because she's the only human in here!" Tanner says, "Besides you!"

Everyone nods quickly. The college kid looks like he might explode. Nobody really wanted to see that...

Suddenly, the door bursts open. Standing in the doorway is a man with an unnatural amount of hair on his arms, stubble, a stitched-on hand, bolts on his head, and red eyes striped with blue-gray. On his chest, in a little backpack-like harness, is a little jack-o-lantern baby with twinkling eyes and a little vegetable body.

"Mr. K!" The students couldn't be more relieved.

"Hey guys!" He greets with a smile, the little jack-o-lantern baby waving his chubby gourd arms.

The mutt, as he's been tagged, walks over and puts a hand on Mr. F.'s shoulder. "Drake, buddy, how's Panem treating you!?"

Their student teacher looks over and groans. "Oh God, not you too! Stuffing your human baby into a pumpkin... God..."

"Well, he's a spirit. Since Mario's a vampire and I only go ghostly when I sneeze, we decided to veggie him up." The kids laugh, Mr. F. scowls.

"Hey Mr. K.," Locke says, "There's a freshman here that's been bit and needs your help!"

The young man nods, "I'm on it," and goes to make a potion.

"This is nonsense," Drake grumbles, shaking his head.

Priscilla wakes up soon and the father and son take a seat and watch Drake, their old friend, intently.

"Alright, anyways, we're doing a real lesson today. And we're _not _singing any festive songs."

The club groans, "Aw, come on!"

He shakes his head, "There's. No. Such. Thing. As. MONSTERS!" he shouts, but just as the last syllable leaves his mouth Rue gasps and a spear glowing purple flies through Mr. Fellington's chest. He lets out a startled scream and collapses to his knees, bleeding badly. Mr. K. jumps up to help him, running over and starting to make a potion. Even jack-o-lantern baby Dutch senses the tension.

As was the big drama last year, ghosts are harder to get from humans from monsters. The rest of the kids stare, terrified, at the dying body, collapsing on the ground with Mr. K.'s hand gently on his back. Soon their previous student teacher gets their current student teacher to drink an orange liquid before Drake passes out.

"What happened!?" squeaks out Prim. The room erupts into conversation.

"GUYS!" Rue shouts over them. Everyone stares at her.

"I-It was a ghost…" Rue says, stuttering, "A ghost but I didn't see who."

Mr. K. picks up a note from the spear and reads. "It says… Happy Halloween, Drake…" before he starts to laugh. Little chuckles bubble from his lips as he nods. "Guys, I wouldn't worry about the murderer."

"Huh?"

"It's just… a friend." He smiles mischievously as the little note and says, "Don't worry."

"Okay…" everyone says just as a pale spirit rises from Drake's body. The ghost wears a pirate hat, and scowls. "What happened? You knock me out?"

"You're a ghost now! Don't you believe us?!"

"No!" he says, "There's no such thing as ghosts!"

"Your dead body's on the ground!" Marvel says.

"BRAINS!" shouts Kelley.

"Just a dummy," he says stubbornly.

"There's no such thing as Halloween monst-" Suddenly Platinum picks up the spear again and whips it right at him. The weapon goes through Drake's torso and hits the wall straight-on.

The specter's eyes go wide as he stares at the spear, and in that moment he accepts that Panem at Halloweentime is very… different.

~.~.

That night, Byna's parents invite her friends over for a surprise birthday party. Having a Halloween birthday isn't something great for her.

Crawley, who's out of gift ideas, just puts a box on his head and plans to make her a vampire for her birthday.

Locke has a bow on his head and starts to transform as the sky gets darker and darker.

Byna arrives home, entering to a dark room and clicking on the lights. Everyone jumps out from their spots, "SURPRISE!"

The girl, caught off-guard, screams and puts up her book in defense.

Everyone laughs loudly as she stares at them, trying to figure out the scene in front of her.

"Happy birthday!" says Cutter.

"G…Guys…" Byna stammers out, "Wow…"

Her parents beam, though trying to hide their distaste of everyone's so casual clothing.

They all take a seat at the table and have dinner together. Though Byna's parents try to hold a proper conversation, soon a lot of talking and laughing erupts and spreads throughout the table.

The monsters eye Byna hungrily, but she gives them a fierce warning look that makes Locke whimper a little.

After dinner, the parents go upstairs and the kids all give Byna their presents.

Crawley sits in the pile with the box over his head, waiting to strike as soon as she takes the box off his head. Locke sits next to him, a bow on his head. Byna opens the normal gifts first, thanking everyone with a smile. She doesn't like the attention, true, but this isn't half-bad, really.

Then she gets to Locke. "I always wanted a puppy," she says, cruel teasing in her voice. She takes a string and wraps it around Locke's neck, "Sit in the corner. Now."

Whimpering and clearly afraid of the fierce, threatening look in Byna's eyes, Locke goes there, muttering _sorry Byna_'s under his breath.

Then she gets to the last one. She takes the box off of Crawley's head and as soon as he sees the light of day (though dim), she turns the lights on the whole way and smacks him again with the book, causing him to screech and stumble backwards.

Byna laughs a little bit and dims the lights again, skipping off to the kitchen to get some garlic to keep by her side for the rest of the night.

Later, they turn off the lights completely and watch a movie, Byna holding the garlic open to keep Crawley away, Locke whimpering in the corner. Byna, who had just had a long week at school and a long day fighting off monsters, can't make it the entire way through, and slowly falls asleep…

~.~.

Edward could feel the transformation coming on.

His already hairy body was growing harrier, he could feel his muscles beefing up, claws replaced hands…

He takes off in a run and goes to the forest, the only place he feels safe going when he's in beast-mode.

He keeps going, his clothes ripping off, his instincts becoming more and more beastly.

Suddenly he sees a girl in a long black jacket, armed with every weapon known to man. She pulls out a gun, and he knows it contains a silver bullet there just for him. He takes off on all-fours away from there, the trees blurring past him. He could hear footsteps behind him, but kept running.

Alright, so it probably didn't help that Edward's been flirting with the alpha monster hunter from Liberty High.

Edward keeps running, knowing that she will not hesitate to kill him right now, considering he's a monster now, not a boy.

He keeps going, a bullet grazing past and hitting his side, sending pain searing up, but he keeps going. He runs until he's a full beast, fighting the instinct he has to attack her. She's strong, ready to kill, but Edward's definitely weaker.

He only wants to attack her if he has to do it to stay alive. He runs until the footsteps stop behind him and he hears Artelind's technological voice (she's mute) yell out, "I'LL GET YOU NEXT YEAR FILTHY BEAST" in a mysteriously monotone voice.

Edward stops, bleeding. He knows he was lucky to get out alive this year against such a skillful assassin of his kind…

This is wrong, this is awful, this is the worst thing that he should be doing…

But, that's a problem for next year…


	5. Chapter 5: The Inevitable

_**A/N: This chapter's kind of short so sorry about that... I'm in a real rut but at least it's something...**_

**Chapter 5: The Inevitable**

Byna's eyes flicker open at the end of the movie she doesn't remember the beginning or middle of. She's pressed against a familiar-smelling boy with a heavy arm around her back.

_What exactly happened today?_ She isn't really sure.

She yawns and sits up, hoping her parents didn't see anything. Surely they didn't, considering she wasn't awakened to any screaming.

She looks up at Crawley's face, her first thought being that he really needs to shave. Upon the girl under his arm shifting, Crawley smiles down at her. "Morning," he whispers, smiling.

"Hello," she says, still unsure what exactly's been going on.

"How are you feeling?"

"Uh, fine?" It comes out as a bit of a question, "Uh, what happened, exactly?"

"Happened when?"

"Oh, just… Start from this morning…" Memories were coming up fuzzy, for some reason…

"Well, this morning-"

"I talked to you this morning," Rebecca says, "About our odd family of odd people. Our big brother Cliff, who's kind of really rude and grouchy, and our oldest brother Dill, who's protective but at least a little bit rational. And maybe I mentioned something about Crawley's heart underwear." The group of high schoolers that are still awake giggle quietly.

Crawley blushes, "Oh, stop it, all of you."

Byna giggles, "Oh, yeah, I do remember that."

"Becky…" growls an embarrassed Crawley, but his freshman sister just giggles happily.

"Oh, relax," says Byna, "It's-" she stops. She wanted to say, _cute, _but she isn't really sure about that… "Uh, it's… Funny." _Nice save_, she thinks sarcastically.

"Right…" Crawley says awkwardly before moving on, "Then, you and I talked a little bit. I brought out the terrible pick-up lines and you threatened to hit me. So, I shut up and later, you accidentally did hit me with your backpack."

"Oh yeah…" How odd this is…. Her memories seem to have switched from whatever really happened to that same thing with monsters… She decides the whole monster thing was just a dream she had that was so realistic that memories have been replaced in her tired brain.

"So, anyways… What else?"

"Prim and Rory realized how different they are in terms of what they can get away with. Rory's always been a trouble-maker, and Prim's so nice… Like an angel, a little bit."

The irony almost hurts. Byna nods. "And?"

"We didn't see you again until seventh period. Mr. Fellington thought all our costumes were weird and he used you as an example of a "normal person."

"But our student teacher Mr. K. came back to see us, with his baby, so that was good!"

"That's right, I remember seeing him now," she nods. Things start to come together.

"Jason showed everyone his new plastic mouthpiece. We were amazed he could play his trumpet with it!"

"Those are pretty cool," says Byna, smiling. She starts to remember everything now, light-headed and confused from her dream as compared to reality.

"Mr. Fellington, the grumpiest student teacher alive, got a note saying _Happy Halloween, Drake _from someone he and Mr. K. seemed to know but nobody else did…"

"Oh, yeah, that's right…"

"And later, your parents threw you a surprise birthday party in an attempt to be cool and modern, so we surprised you!"

"I brought you stuffed puppy for your birthday with a bow," says Locke, "I thought it was a grossly stereotypical gift but the other guys promised that it'd be a good idea so I did."

"I got you myself!" Crawley pipes up, "Well, actually, my_ services! _I got you a coupon book!"

Byna puts a hand in her pocket, pulling out the book full of random coupons. "Oh yeah, that's right…" she looks through the coupons, most of which are completely ridiculous and a mix of sickeningly fluffy kissy things and things that will obviously not happen.

"And then, we watched a movie, and your parents went to bed, and you dozed off, being all snuggly and cute!"

"It was gross," Miranda says. Everyone laughs.

"You're so cute and snuggly," says Crawley affectionately. Byna blushes and stares at the couch embarrassedly.

The credits start to roll and soon, everyone says goodbye and starts on their way home. Crawley and his sisters are the last ones there. The sisters go out to Crawley's car, leaving him and Byna alone.

"Happy birthday," he says, the two sharing an awkward hug that soon becomes slightly less awkward and more comfortable.

"Thanks," Byna says quietly.

They stand in an awkward silence, her laying her head on his chest. Crawley kisses her forehead and whispers, "See you later."

"See ya," she says weakly. After that, she loses his warm touch, and he goes out the door to drive his sisters home.

_What a day, _Byna thinks, going upstairs to shower before getting to bed, _What kind of twisted memories…? _

_Ah, screw it. It was probably just a crazy-realistic dream. _

~.~.

The band lines up on a beautiful day in November for the annual Veteran's Day Parade. It's a big deal for the Panemites, especially Marvel, whose uncle Gloss had enlisted in the military last year at this time.

The band gathers and lines up on the street and talks in little clusters. Byna avoids Crawley, still confused on how she feels and what's going on.

Locke and Jason stand together and talk with Rebecca and some of the other trumpets and saxophones. The others chat amongst themselves until it's close to performance time.

Meanwhile, Rue and Skeeter walk hand-in-hand down the street, waving to Tanner but keeping on moving past Ben. They stop when they see Marvel by himself, seeing as Edward went off to spend the morning with Artelind from Liberty High.

"Marvel!" Rue says, walking over.

He looks up, seeming out of it. "Hey." He tries not to look nervous or worried, but he is.

"How are you?" asks Rue. It's easy to notice the doubt in Marvel's voice, and they both know it.

"Fine." Rue and Skeeter aren't really buying it.

"What's up with you?" asks Skeeter, concerned, "You can talk to us."

"I said I'm fine." He stares at the parade coming past, his face looking distant.

"Marvel-"

"Shut up, kid, it's just been one of those weeks!" he snaps. Rue is about to speak again but Skeeter shakes his head a little. Now's not the time to hound the guy.

The three stand in silence as the parade reaches a comfortable speed, when they hear a squeak and an "excuse me!" and Poppy shows up by them.

"Good morning!" she chirps happily. Marvel doesn't look at her.

"Morning, Poppy," Rue says with a small smile. Skeeter salutes a little.

"What's up?" she asks, looking concerned.

"Uh…" Rue says, confused.

"We're not sure, exactly," Skeeter says quietly.

Poppy reaches over to take Marvel's hand but he slips out of her grasp. Rue and Skeeter decide to try and give them a little bit of privacy, though they are in a public street. They watch the parade, cheering for the band, and stop to chat with Edward and Artelind.

"Do you know anything about Marvel?" asks Rue quietly.

Edward shrugs. "All I know is that he's been really odd lately… Really bitter or upset. He won't tell anyone what's up, not even Kelley. We think it's got to do with Gloss enlisting. 'T's become real to 'im these past couple weeks."

"I thought so," says Skeeter, "He's turning his fear into bitterness and anger… He's pushing everyone away… We just have to be there for him."

Rue takes Skeeter's hand and nods, bad memories coming back to both of them of the past.

"I know it firsthand," Skeeter says, "I tried to push everyone out for the longest time after my Mom died when I was a freshman… And it had almost disastrous results…" Rue saved him from suicide that year, and not much after that the two got together. Still, it's a sensitive set of memories for both of them.

"We just have to keep an eye on him until he lets us in again…" Skeeter says, "Make sure he knows he's not alone."

All of them nod.

"Well, how are you, Artelind?" asks Rue. The mute junior from Liberty High smiles a little bit, typing into the app on her phone that speaks for her: "I'm doing fine today, thank you. How about you?"

"We're okay." Skeeter nods, still out of it a bit from his worry.

"Poppy's with him," Rue says quietly, "He'll be okay."

The others nod and hope that maybe she can do something to help him.

While the others talk, Marvel and Poppy stand in awkward silence. She tries to think of something to say to help him, something he'll listen to.

"I'll always be here for you, you know."

"Shut up, I know!" he's really not in the mood to be babied.

"And it's okay to talk. It's okay to be afraid. It's okay to need help sometimes."

"Be quiet, I know all that shit! I know it!" he snaps.

"I'm just trying to help…" the more time that ticks past, the more and more hurt Poppy gets.

"Well don't! I don't need any help from anyone, especially not you!"

She stops short, tears threatening to push out of her eyes though she pushes them away. "F-Fine. I'll talk to you later." She turns away from the way Rue and Skeeter walked, and quickly walks away, trying not to cry.

Marvel watches her go and weakly calls after her once, "Poppy…" but to no avail. He knows he was being mean, but it doesn't take long before he stops caring. He leaves the parade early, just wanting to go home.

He makes it to his room and goes upstairs, sitting on his bed.

Marvel doesn't want to admit it, but he's afraid for Gloss. His Uncle is someone who, though isn't the best influence, makes him smile. Marvel really loves him and is afraid for his safety. His life is always in danger.

But, to Gloss, it's worth it. Marvel knows that, he understands that, but he's just so afraid for Gloss's life and safety. He doesn't want him to get injured, like Mason's Dad. He just… He's stressed, with school getting even harder and having to deal with so much stress… It's finally getting to him.

He's afraid, and stressed, and upset, and he never knew he didn't want Gloss to leave until it became inevitable. It's too late now. Marvel knows what he's doing is good and special, but he also can't help but feel like the frustration is just overwhelming.

He sighs and doesn't talk to anyone the rest of the day, trying to figure out how he's going to make time to have fun without his Uncle Gloss around to make it special.

_He'll be okay. _

_He's going to be okay._


	6. Chapter 6: Giving Thanks

_**A/N: Guess who failed her two-updates-a-month promise!? This girl! Don't worry, though, this is the "second November chapter" though it is no longer November. Gosh, I'm just so inspiration-less. Sorry.**_

**Chapter Six: Giving Thanks and Making Amends (Or Trying)**

"Aw, _hell_ no!" Jason jumps up, "I knew there was something you weren't telling me!"

"Well sor-_ry _I'm trying to help you!" Locke says, pulling him back down.

"What are you not telling me!?" Jason asks, scowling.

"I-"

The door opens and Tanner walks into the room, dragging a very confused Ben behind him.

"LEMME AT HIM!" Jason yells. Locke holds him back and Tanner has to restrict Ben as well. Both of them scream mean things at each other, struggling.

"We're going to make you be friends!" Locke says.

"No way!" Jason shouts.

"Never!" Ben retorts.

"Sit." Locke says, pointing to the chair. "Sit, Jason, sit." He keeps a stern look on his face and Jason eventually slumps into a seat.

"No way, I'm _not_ making up with Gutterball!" Ben says, starting on his way out of Locke's living room. Tanner grabs him by the arm, causing him to stop short.

"Ben, Locke is a good friend of mine, and you two arguing isn't helping with anything. We're not asking you to be _friends, _we just want you to not hate each other. Is that too much to ask?"

"Yes."

"Please, Ben? _Pleeeeeaaassseeeee_!?" Tanner asks, smiling sweetly and flashing him a pair of big, bright blue puppy eyes. "_Please_!? Just try?"

Ben stops in his tracks, trying so very hard to resist. "I _hate_ this guy."

"I know, but you like me, don't you? Won't you try for me?" He blinks the big puppy eyes, and Ben cracks, sitting down in in a seat, "Fine."

"Yay!" Tanner says.

"We will never be friends," Ben says.

"I hate him," Jason reminds them.

"We know," Locke groans, "But we're going to try to change that."

"Never."

"Stop talking, you two. There's no reason you hate each other except for the sake of hatred," Locke says.

"No, wrong! I hate him because he's a colossal asswad to everyone, including my friends!" Jason says.

"Well, he's not going to be a colossal asswad anymore," Tanner says.

"I think I should be the one to say that," Ben pouts.

"I don't believe it anyways," Jason growls, scowling and crossing his arms.

"I'm not going to be a colossal asswad anymore," Ben growls.

"Liar."

"Jason, be reasonable," Locke says.

"I can't be reasonable about this! Tanner, just face the fact that he's a jerk and dump him!"

"People change," Tanner says, and Locke nods in agreement.

"You really are like a guard Chihuahua, aren't you Gutterball?" muses Ben, "You're like a small, yippy guard dog that jumps around and barks at people even when nobody needs protected."

"See why I hate him!?" Jason shouts, ready to tackle him.

"Ben," Tanner scolds quietly, giving him a look.

"What? Gutterball's just so incredibly easy to harass!" Ben says, throwing up his hands.

"I thought you said you weren't going to be an asswad anymore!" Jason shouts.

"I won't be an asswad when you become less insultable!"

"Locke!" Jason protests, turning to his friend.

"Why don't we just try to be quiet and accept each other?" Locke asks, trying to bring the situation back to the topic of mediating.

"I won't just sit here and let Ben insult me!" Jason protests. He struggles to get up but Locke holds him down. "Jason, be the bigger person here," he growls, quiet enough that Ben and Tanner can't hear.

"I can't be the bigger person!" Jason mutters.

"Then let Ben be the bigger person. Fine." Locke knows that thought would make Jason tick, and he's right. Jason, making himself try to stay calm, sits still, still scowling and growling under his breath.

"Whatever," Jason pouts, crossing his arms again, "I still have my knife. And I will not hesitate to use it. You can't be suspended if it happens here."

"Jason-" Locke tries, but he's cut off by Ben, "You can still be arrested, Gutterball!"

"Stop calling me that, Asswad!"

"Don't call me Asswad!"

"You are on! Asswad!"

"Gutterball!"

"Ben-" Tanner tries, and Locke tries to console Jason, but soon it becomes a screaming match between Jason and Ben.

"ASSWAD!"

"GUTTERBALL!"

"ASSWAD!"

"GUYS!" Tanner shouts loudly, and Locke is glad he decided to gather them when the Hollow parents were both working at their butcher shop. At Tanner's exclamation, both go silent.

"I thought you were trying to make peace," Tanner says, "And this isn't helping."

"Whatever," Jason sits back down, pouting and crossing his arms again.

"Fine," mutters Ben, sitting down and scowling.

"Okay. Now, Jason, apologize to Ben for calling him Asswad," Locke says.

"Sorry," mutters Jason.

"What?" asks Ben, laughing.

"I said sorry Asswad!" Jason shouts.

Locke sighs. "That's not helping you. Do it again without the Asswad."

"I said… Sorry." Jason lets out an exasperated breath.

"Now, Ben, you apologize to Jason for calling him Gutterball," Tanner says.

"Fine," scowls Ben. "Sorry."

"What?" Jason asks smirking.

"I said sorry!" Ben says irritably.

"There, okay, now that both of you apologized, we can try and start over. Yes?"

"No," Jason scowls.

"No?" Locke asks warningly.

"No. I can't start over. Not until you apologize to Skeeter and everyone else you've ever bullied and/or hurt."

"Jason-"

"He's right." Everyone looks over, surprised at Ben speaking up. "He's right. Our animosity sprouted from my being rude to my cousin. So it can never really go away until I make things right with him. Him and everyone else."

Jason smiles smugly, Tanner beams with affection.

"That's very good of you, Benny," Tanner says, smiling.

"Don't you dare start calling me Benny."

"Too late!"

"Calm down, _Benny,_" says a smirking Jason.

"Don't you dare start," growls Ben threateningly. "Don't you dare!"

"Let it go, Jason," Locke says quietly. Jason finally does just stay quiet and the four sit in a somewhat comfortable silence before the next person speaks up.

"So, uh, we're done here?" Tanner asks.

"I think we've done all we can do for them," Locke says.

"Get out of my house, Asswad," Jason says threateningly. Locke flicks him warningly.

"Come on," Tanner says, smiling softly. "At least we got somewhere. Baby steps are still steps."

"True," Locke says quietly. "Thanks for dropping by," he says, trying a smile.

"Sure thing." He takes Ben's hand and walks out the door.

~.~.

Prim comes into the house and throws her backpack down, happily ready for Thanksgiving break. Looking over, she sees a familiar person sitting on the couch.

"Katniss!"

"Hey Little Duck," Katniss says with a smile. "How was your day?"

"Oh, it was fine. Everyone was anxious for some break time."

"Yeah, I'm sure they were. Everyone was up at college, too."

"Did Peeta and Gale get home too?"

"Yeah, I've talked to both of them."

Prim smiles, "Good. How about Vick?"

"I haven't talked to them since Rory and his Mom went to pick him up. I thought you should know about that, Little Duck."

Prim giggles a little, "Oh yeah, Rory said something about driving."

"He's not still texting you, is he?"

"No, his Mom would murder him, you know Ms. Hawthorne."

"She really doesn't put up with people's shit," Katniss says laughing, "Especially not her sons'."

Prim laughs, taking a remote and finally pocketing her phone for the first time in a while.

"No one to talk to?" Katniss asks, laughing.

"They've all got lives," Prim says with a small smile, looking to see what's on the other channels.

"Of course," laughs Katniss, messing with her long brown braid. Prim smiles and watches the television quietly, after deciding there's nothing better on.

"Doesn't the turkey smell good?"

"Yeah. Did you shoot it?"

"No, it's not hunting season yet, silly."

"My mistake," Prim says, "How could I forget how your life revolves around the hunting season?"

Both Everdeen girls laugh, lounging back.

"Is Peeta going with you this year?"

"No," laughs Katniss, "He doesn't belong in the woods. Especially not after he tore his ACL. He'd scare all the animals away."

Prim looks over. "How'd Peeta tear his ACL!?" she asks, stunned. Katniss had forgotten that detail in her talks with the rest of her family.

"Oh, he was playing Ultimate Frisbee with a group of guys. His team versus Cato's. He jumped up to get it and came back down on it hard."

"Oh."

"We still won, though," Katniss muses, grinning, "Old Cato got chased off by a bunch of affectionate puppies. He's got a thing with dogs."

Prim laughs, "Sounds like a lot of fun."

"Oh, it was. It was a very intense game. I love to do stuff like that."

"I know. I didn't think Peeta was that type."

Katniss shrugs, "Honestly, I didn't think so, either."

Both girls laugh and then turn their attention to a cartoon on the television set.

~.~.

People talk in the full-to-the-brim Hawthorne house, as Hazelle Hawthorne sets her children to work on their last-minute Thanksgiving dinner preparations.

Rory and Posy heat up the vegetables, Vick keeps a close eye on the stuffing, and Gale helps his Mom set out the turkey, mashed potatoes, and various other festive foods the Hawthornes and the Colemans, from their mother's side, brought to the house.

As the vegetables microwave, Posy takes out her phone, watching for messages and texting Bonnie and Kelley. Rory flips open his phone and texts Prim, smiling giddily.

"You're pathetic," Posy remarks, smirking.

Rory looks over. "_You're_ calling _me_ pathetic?!" He rolls his eyes, "You're the pathetic one!"

"I am _not_!"

"Kelley O'Callaghan this! Kelley O'Callaghan that!" he says in his dramatic girl voice. Posy rolls her eyes, tightening her ponytail.

"I'm talking to Bonnie."

"And the Shamrock."

"His name is Kelley."

"I know. I prefer the new nickname."

"Well I don't."

"Well I'm your older brother, so I don't have to care!"

Posy rolls her eyes as the microwave dings. "There are the beans. You start with the corn."

She pockets her phone and walks up the stairs. Rory shrugs a little and puts the bowl of corn in the microwave, texting Prim and smiling giddily. Soon Posy joins him again.

"I got this!" he says.

"I know. I just don't want to go up there with all the family until I have to. Mom'll punish me if she sees me texting."

"And you don't want to stop talking to your sweet Shamrock!"

"And Bonnie!" Posy protests, flicking him. "That Shamrock thing better not stick!"

"Oh, you know I'll make sure it does!" Rory laughs, "Have fun with the corn!" and runs upstairs, laughing gleefully as he goes.

"Seriously Rory!? You're an idiot sometimes!" Posy calls after him, though he either doesn't hear it or intentionally doesn't respond.

The dinner is soon completely set out, and all of the Hawthornes and Colemans are able to grab food and sit around the dining room table. Grandmas and grandpas, aunts and uncles and cousins, and, of course, brothers and sisters, all sitting together around the table.

"Times like this I really miss Dad," Posy whispers, as she reaches over Vick to get gravy and pour it on her mashed potatoes and turkey.

"I miss him too," Vick says quietly, sighing a little.

"We all miss him, Pos," Hazelle says quietly, patting her daughter's back with the gentle hand of a mother. When Posy looks up to smile gratefully at her mother, she sees the sadness in those gentle gray eyes and looks away, forcing a sad smile.

"Get in the living room so we can say grace, dear," Ms. Hawthorne says quietly, guiding her children to the dining room with the rest of the family.

"Hey, you okay?" Gale asks, upon seeing their sullen faces.

"Yeah," says Posy, "Just remembering when Dad was around."

Gale's eyes sadden a little but he keeps a smile on and nods. "Oh, yeah. I miss him, too. But we can keep on going," he says with a small smile. "Haven't we always?"

"Yeah, I guess so…"

Hazelle Hawthorne raises her hands to silence the family and clears her throat.

"We're going to pray now, and then we can all dig into the feast!" Everyone gives their assent and, when the room silences again, Ms. Hawthorne starts.

"God, today is a day of thanks. And this family wants to thank you for everything we've been blessed with. For the opportunity to see each other, the opportunity to eat such a plentiful meal together… There have been times for all of us when we've worried about starving, or poverty. There have been hot times, throughout the year and our lives, but you always help us through. And you always help us find a way. And we thank you for that, that and the fun times we've had, and for every blessing we don't see. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen."

Vick reaches over and squeezes Posy's hand as the family echoes, "Amen."


	7. Chapter 7: Holiday CheerRight?

**Chapter Seven: Holiday Cheer...Right? **

And so the autumn passes and Panem soon appears to be drifting into a cold, bitter winter. Everyone wears their coats and gloves and hats to school and does their very best to stay warm. Prim can never understand how Katniss could stand to go out hunting in the winter; just five or ten minutes outside is more than enough for Prim, but Katniss has always been strong like that.

As time passes by, everything seems to become grayer, especially the weather. In fact, barely anyone feels ready for the Christmas season by the time mid-September rolls around.

As the weather gets colder, Tanner and Ben haven't seen each other quite as much: they can't spend too much time at either house because of a fear of coming out to parents, and the time for walking around aimlessly in the bitter cold has become very limited.

However, from the occasional glances Tanner gets at school and the occasional conversation, he's noticed something very different about Ben Hoffsteader.

The most minimal of the changes Tanner's seen is that he's a lot quieter. He doesn't scowl as much nowadays, which means something is changing in his heart. When he sees Tanner he smiles and he acknowledges that the other boy exists now, which is better than in the autumn.

However, the more obvious and more alarming changes are what Tanner sees in him physically. He's skinnier. He's paler. He often taps his fingers together or taps his feet or looks around, constantly moving and seeming, maybe… Tanner isn't sure, but he's definitely not himself.

Tanner has no idea what's going on, but he already knows that most of it is bad.

However, Tanner knows that, as his boyfriend, it lies with him to try and make things better for Ben, whatever he possibly might be going on. So he gets in his car one evening and drives the streets of the town, watching to see where his beautiful Benny might be now. He very rarely finds Ben at home.

Eventually, just when Tanner's ready to give up, he sees a silhouette much thinner than he remembered, and much worse-looking. He pulls up and rolls down the window. "Ben!" he says, causing the other boy to yelp and look over. "Cooper," he hisses, "What are you doing here?"

"Wanted to pick you up. I want to take you out."

"Out? Out where?"

"Get in. You'll see."

Ben hesitates, but eventually climbs into the car. He's shaking like he's cold, but he's pale and sweating as if he's just thrown up.

"Are you alright?"

"Fine," snaps Ben, staring out the window and trying to stop shivering.

Tanner starts driving, mostly to prevent from scaring Ben away, which is highly probable if he says something uncomfortable.

"Where are you taking me?" Ben asks, sounding exhausted and staring out the window.

"You'll see," says Tanner.

"Stop saying that!" Ben says irritably.

"Relax." Tanner stops at a stoplight and smiles at him encouragingly. "Okay? Just take a breath and relax."

"Fine." The brown-haired boy tries to relax, watching out the window as Tanner pulls into the parking lot of a church.

"What are you doing?"

"Relax, it's not about religion. Our church is having a chicken dinner and there'll be music and it'll be fun."

"Cooper-"

"Relax, it'll be fine. Come on, it's free food, and free entertainment. Please. You don't look well and I want to help you."

Ben taps his toes on the ground and cracks his knuckles, looking around, before wiping sweat from his forehead. "Fine. But only for you."

"Good!" Tanner smiles as reassuringly as he can, getting out of the car and putting the keys in his pocket, "Come on, then."

He takes Ben's hand and walks in the doors. Ben follows, shaking the hair out of his eyes. He hates it, hasn't had it cut in a long while, but he would like to. He walks in the building with Tanner, the warm, bright, inviting room decorated for Christmas. Music plays, people chat, and Tanner pays three dollars for each of them to go in and sit down.

"You didn't say you were paying for me," Ben scowls.

"Relax, it's a date, that's how it's supposed to go. Now sit." Tanner sits and Ben obediently sits across from him.

"See, this isn't so bad." He glances around the room, relieved to see no one he knows well.

"Guess not." It smells delicious, really, and Ben hasn't had a warm meal in a long while. He just prays that he doesn't throw up, tapping his feet nervously.

Soon the servers pass out plates of chicken covered in gravy and biscuits that steam and look absolutely delicious. Ben slowly picks up his silverware and starts to eat as the music switches from a group of singers to a young girl who plays on a keyboard. Well, she's not too young; Tanner knows who she is because of the glee club, and recognizes the red ribbon in her hair.

Ben's too busy eating and enjoying the food to notice who's on the stage. Tanner eats slower than Ben and enjoys Byna's music calmly. He eats half of his chicken and then offers the rest to Ben, who tries to make him eat it before caving and taking it.

After Byna finishes her songs, the stage is taken by group with multiple instruments and a vocalist, and Byna sits at a table of kids, all with huge smiles and rosy cheeks. Tanner recognizes Crawley first, and then the rest of the Archers. Ben practically drinks the rest of the gravy on his plate before the server takes it.

Then they put out a table full of baked goods and sweets, and soon everyone is encouraged to sing out some popular Christmas carols. The room fills with joyful noise, Tanner adding to it and singing his favorites especially loud. "Let's go get some cookies!" he says, grinning and walking with Ben to the table.

He grins with happy relief that Ben's cheeks seem to be much rosier and his face seems to have some more color than when they had entered. Unfortunately, he still seems very far from okay, and Tanner still doesn't know why.

As Tanner and Ben pick out some of the delicious-looking food, a particularly jolly song is played and Tanner sings gleefully, only stopping when he hears a quiet voice singing beside him. He glances over at Ben, not enough to make it obvious for fear that he'd stop, but enough to hear his voice.

Tanner had heard Ben sing before, with Daphne, in fact, back when she had a study hall third period and he was a wandering office aid. But Tanner was too busy listening to the words to care about how Ben's voice sounded. He was too shocked to even see the guy up on the stage.

But now, now when Tanner takes a second to listen, takes a second to be calm and warm and happy with Ben by his side, now he can really listen. And, though Ben's only singing under his breath as he picks out some sweets to eat, Tanner notices his voice is really beautiful.

Soon Tanner starts singing again, but not quite as loud, as he listens to Ben. Soon, though, the other boy stuffs his face with cookies and stops singing to eat, and so Tanner eventually picks at the delectable desserts that he picked.

As they're eating, Tanner finally vocalizes a thought that was coming to his mind.

"Benny, you should consider joining the glee club."

"Wh-what!? Me?! Absolutely not."

"It's fun, though!"

"No."

"Please? For me?"

"No. There are some things I might do for you, like talking to Gutterball-"

"_Beeeeeennnnnn_."

Ben rolls his eyes, "Don't _Beeeeeennnnnn_ me."

Tanner frowns, noticing how incredibly irritable Ben's been lately.

"Anyways, there are some things you can make me do with those big blue eyes, but this is not one of them. I cannot sing."

"Are you insane!? You sounded great!"

"Y-You were listening!?"

"Of course." Tanner smiles softly, "Your voice is just so sweet."

"Sh-shut up, no it's not."

"Sure it is. It must run in your family."

"Nuh-uh!" Ben retorts.

"Uh-huh!" Tanner retorts back, stuffing a cookie in Ben's mouth before he can retort back.

Ben sighs, chewing and swallowing. Tanner laughs.

"It doesn't matter. They hate me there, remember? They laughed at you for even liking me, remember? They'd never let me in."

"But you could prove that you've changed!"

Ben taps his feet and his fingers anxiously. "No, and that's final. Got it?"

"Just come. Come for one after-school rehearsal. You'll have so much fun you keep coming back!"

"I doubt it. Gutterball's there. Rothman's there, too."

"Prove me wrong, then. Give it a chance. If you hate it I'll drop it. Come on, I won't stop pestering you until you do!"

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

Tanner shrugs, flashing the biggest, saddest blue puppy eyes he can possibly manage. "Come on, Benny, _pleeeeaaassseee_?"

"No."

Tanner blinks. Ben's never said no to those eyes before. He tries again, "_Please_!"

Ben pauses, sighing and scowling a little bit. "Fine."

Tanner beams, "Yay!"

Ben doesn't smile, but he stops scowling. He taps his fingers against the table in rhythm to the song being played, and Tanner runs out of things to say. Soon, the night concludes and Tanner and Ben walk together to Tanner's car.

"Where would you like dropped off?" Tanner asks.

Ben shrugs, before he feels sick to his stomach and can feel himself about to vomit. "He-Here," he gags a little.

"Are you alright?!" Tanner looks over, concerned, eyes serious. "Ben, what's wrong!?"

"Nothing." He pauses. "Thanks for tonight." Then he unlocks his door and gets out the car, gagging and running off in the other direction. Tanner just watches a little bit, sighing and vowing to get to the bottom of whatever's going on with Ben.

~.~.

The next day seventh period, it's obvious that nobody's really in a Christmas mood.

Marvel, after having lashed out on Poppy at Veteran's Day, hasn't talked to her a bit and considers them unofficially broken up.

The juniors have to write a huge paper just before Christmas break.

Posy misses her father more than ever this time of year, Bonnie is still worrying about school and about being noticed by Kelley, and Kelley is just surrounded by so many downers it's hard for him to show any kind of cheer.

The Archers are just trying to make ends meet, and Byna's parents are constantly on her case this time of year and she's sick of it.

As for the freshmen, well, they're hanging tight, but school is stressful for them, as well, and the orphanage is getting the yearly bunch of holiday children.

Needless to say, nobody's ready for Christmas to come. The days ticking by go quickly and busily, and nobody's stopped to consider that Christmas is less than two weeks away. And nobody's stopped to consider the fact that they intend to get together with their rival school just like they did the year before.

Their student teacher passes out a Circle of Fifths worksheet, looking as disgruntled as always, and the students sigh.

"Uh, Mr. Fellington, couldn't we sing some Christmas music today!?" begs Skeeter.

"Yeah! I mean, I know we couldn't rent out the auditorium for a Christmas concert this year," the group lets out a collective sigh, "But couldn't we sing some jolly songs anyways?" Bonnie adds.

"That'd be fun!" says Tanner, and soon the whole glee club is begging, giving their prettiest puppy eyes, "Please, Mr. Fellington! _Please_!"

"So, you've figured out that it's that wretched season once again. Good for you."

The students beg harder in response, the pit even harder than the singers. "_Please_!"

"I sure hope you people don't get as excited about Christmas as you do about Halloween," he mumbles. The kids laugh a little but soon get back to begging.

"Let them sing," Mr. Everdeen offers, smiling a little, "We couldn't let them have a concert, but at least let them sing."

"Ben's coming after school today, and I just know he'd stay if only we could have some fun singing!"

"Actually, let's do worksheets instead!" Jason says, "Boring, stupid, black and white worksheets, let's do them today all day!"

Locke flicks him and Jason looks over, offended. After a warning look from Locke's eyes, Jason shuts up and pouts instead.

"Fine, we'll do this," Mr. Everdeen tries to compromise between their scowling student teacher and the excited students. "We'll do this worksheet during class-" a collective groan sweeps the kids, "But we'll sing as soon as school lets out. Okay?"

"Fine," the kids grumble as the worksheets are passed out. None of them are really fans of this new student teacher.

~.~.

After school, the kids gather in the auditorium and the pit gleefully tunes in preparation for the festivities of the days. Tanner meets Ben outside the auditorium and takes his hand.

"Y…You look worse than yesterday," Tanner says, biting his lip. Ben wipes sweat from his forehead and Tanner notices how pale and jittery he is today.

"Thanks," Ben deadpans, scowling.

"No, I didn't mean you look ugly, I just-"

"I already knew I look god-awful. Thanks."

"Ben…"

"Just let it go. You'll know when I want you to know."

"Okay…" concerned, Tanner bites his lip as they go into the auditorium to see the glee club picking orders of what to sing and who sings it. Tanner chooses Deck the Halls, and he gets to go third. After everyone's had their shares of fun and singing, during which Ben's moved closer and closer to the back for fear of throwing up, Crawley is the last one to go.

Everyone quiets their excited chatter from Rue's rendition of Silent Night to look at the stage. Tanner starts moving toward Ben in the back, who looks just about ready to leave.

"Please stay," he whispers, as the pit is changing their music.

"I've gotten too many dirty looks from everyone, I'm not welcome here-"

"Please. Just one more song."

"Fine," Ben scowls. Tanner pulls him back up front with the others, silently begging people to just be kind to him. Jason gives him an evil eye but other than that everyone else tries to smile.

"Uh, I don't really sing, a lot-" Crawley starts, but he's interrupted by the bandies (minus Byna) shouting, "Liar!"

"Fine! I don't really sing a lot for _people_. So I hope I don't suck too bad. This song goes out to everyone out there who is stressed about trying to scrape money together this season. Anyone who's afraid of going hungry, anyone who's ever considered dropping out of school to work, like me. My heart goes out to all of you, and I know how it feels myself."

He nods to the pit to start playing.

Rebecca holds up her phone. "What are you doing?" Tanner asks, confused.

"Oh, I'm taking a video. Dill and Cliff have to see this." Tanner figures that Dill and Cliff are the two oldest Archer brothers, who he saw with the family at the chicken dinner the other night.

The pit starts playing just then and Rebecca shushes everyone as Crawley starts to sing.

"Come, they told me, pa rum pum pum pum…  
>A newborn king to see, pa rum pum pum pum…"<p>

Shit. Ben knows this song. In fact, as a kid, it'd always been one of his favorite Christmas carols. He knows every word, every note, every pitch… He could take over if Crawley were to pass out mid-song or something. But he keeps a scowl on his face and just keeps his eyes trained on the stocky kid singing the song.

"Little baby, pa rum pum pum pum…  
>I am a poor boy too, pa rum pum pum pum…<br>I have no gift to bring, pa rum pum pum pum…  
>That's fit to give the king, pa rum pum pum pum…"<p>

Crawley's voice isn't terrible. It wasn't god-awful when he sang the band song Hey Baby, but it's even more pure now. His voice wavers on a couple of notes but it's easy to look over. Rebecca zooms in on her phone, smiling. The others all watch, interested. Ben tries to keep scowling and looking away.

The rest of the club hums background chords along with the pit during the instrumental part, and Ben is tempted to hum with them.

The pit does a dramatic key-change for the final verse, and that's what drives Ben to feel unpleasantly emotional.

"Mary nodded, pa rum pum pum pum!  
>The ox and lamb kept time, pa rum pum pum pum!<br>I played my drum for him, pa rum pum pum pum!  
>I played my best for him, pa rum pum pum pum!<br>Rum pum pum pum, rum pum pum pum!"

Crawley smiles slightly, reflecting on those times when he had nothing to give but his music. He always wished he had more to give to so many people that he loved so dearly, but the Archers are a family that always has to make do with what they have. After miniscule pause, he finishes out the song.

"Then he smiled at me, pa rum pum pum pum…  
>Me and my drum."<p>

There's a pause as the final note fades before the glee club erupts into applause and Crawley wears a typical dorky Crawley grin. Byna looks up from the piano and smiles a little bit. Her relationship with him is still… Complicated.

Soon, everyone goes and Tanner walks out of the auditorium with Ben, who looks frazzled and upset.

"Are you alright?" Tanner asks quietly.

"Fine," grumbles Ben, gagging.

"You're obviously not-"

"I'm not contagious!"

"Then what-"

"I'll tell you when I tell you!" he says, "And until I tell you don't ask!" He runs off again and Tanner just watches him go, sighing.

He walks to his car, upset and unsure of what he can do for Ben. All he knows now is that this is going to be a very… _different… _kind ofChristmas season.


End file.
